Almost two hours after taking off from Patrick Henry International Airport in Newport News to conduct a flying lesson, Ludwig, a 38-year-old aircraft maintenance instructor at Fort Eustis, was forced to land his plane in the field when its only engine failed.

Ludwig had set out for a flying lesson about 3 p.m. with Bob Yoreck, a 31-year-old helicopter maintenance instructor. The Cessna has a wing span of 12 yards and a length of about 10 yards.

Skies were clear when they made a practice landing at the West Point airstrip about 35 miles northwest of Newport News about 3:30 p.m. Planning to be safely on the ground and heading toward his car by 5, Ludwig headed back to Patrick Henry.

When they reached the George P. Coleman Memorial Bridge at 4:40 p.m., Ludwig and Yoreck heard air traffic controllers broadcast an announcement that Patrick Henry was closed because of an emergency with another aircraft.

Then the only engine of Ludwig's plane started sputtering. He radioed the tower that he needed to land. " The tower said, `We can't let you in unless you declare an emergency,'" Ludwig said. "So I said, `This is an emergency,' and they said, `Come on down.'"

But it was too late. As Ludwig approached the airport, the plane's engine lost all power. "I had it full throttle, and it was just barely gliding," he said.

Unsure whether he would make it to the runway, Ludwig took a sharp right that would guide him into a huge field hundreds of yards long.

He called the tower and told them where he would land.

About 4:50, the plane was sailing above the trees that border the field. "I could reach out and touch the branches," Ludwig said.

After the plane survived the bumps in the terrain, Yorek and Ludwig stepped out of the plane at the same time police, summoned by the airport tower, pulled up.

The other emergency at the airport was for an Allegheny commuter plane having difficulty with its landing gear, said Peter Daikos, executive director of the airport. The plane landed without incident.

For Ludwig, landing was the easy part. He and Mike Arthurs, the co-owner of the Cessna, were spending the night on the field so no one would strip the plane. They said they would try to repair it and take off over Route 17 this morning.